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Maine mother rubs heroin on 1-year-old daughter's gums over a dozen times to make her sleep leading to her death

33-year-old Kimberly Nelligan has been charged with child endangerment and possession of schedule z drugs in connection to her daughter's death
UPDATED MAR 27, 2020
(Police Department)
(Police Department)

BANGOR, MAINE: A Maine mother was arrested and charged after she gave her toddler daughter small doses of heroin over a dozen times to help her sleep, leading to the infant's death.

The mother, 33-year-old Kimberly Nelligan, was arrested on Tuesday, September 17, nearly a year after her one-year-old daughter was found dead in her home from acute fentanyl intoxication, according to Bangor Daily News.

Bangor Police and fire officials had responded to her home on October 10, 2018, when she reported that her daughter was not breathing. By the time they reached her residence, the toddler had died.

When she was questioned, Nelligan initially denied using opioids before later confessing to using heroin once a week in the two months leading to her daughter's death.

The toddler's father told investigators that, in those two months, he had seen the 33-year-old rub heroin residue on the child's gums around 15 times. He also said that the mother had told him she had done this to her two older siblings as well and that it was not meant to hurt her.

Nelligan confessed to police to giving the one-year-old heroin but insisted she did so because the girl had problems with her stomach and sleeping. 

She has been charged with child endangerment and possession of schedule z drugs in connection to her daughter's death and was released on a personal recognizance bail after she pleaded not guilty in court.

She was ordered to not have any contact with the child's father or any children under the age of 18, and also not consume alcohol or any illegal drugs.

She faces up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 if she's convicted on the child endangerment charges, and up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted on the possession of drugs charge.

However, District Attorney Marianne Lynch has said that further charges could be brought against the 33-year-old as their investigation continued.

"These are very serious, very difficult cases, and in some instances, the law isn’t really designed to address issues like this," she said.

"If things change at some point, there is still a possibility for other charges to come forward, but at this point, these are the charges we are confident we can go forward with." Nelligan is scheduled to make her next appearance in court on November 12.

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